Land With Laws

camlyn

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Hi,
I've seen a plot of land up for a super price and my family and i are thinking of buying it if all goes well. However there are three stables on the land so an idea was to rent out the other two stables to livery's with my horse in the other. A couple of people i have spoken to about the whole idea have said that there are a dozen health and safety laws that will prevent us from renting out the stables but then again others say different. I was just wondering whether anybody has any advice on where to look for more info or whether anybody can tell me anything that they know.
Thanks!
 

JillA

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Are you in the UK? There aren't any laws that I know of in the UK about running a livery stables, which is effectively what umbrella you would come under. There may be covenants about not running a business (again, define business in terms of just letting a couple of stables?) or other matters - you will find that in the title documents.
Maybe they are confusing it with hiring out horses (being a riding stables) when you do need a license and insurance and regular inspections by the local authority.
I would go back and ask them precisely which laws they are referring to. They could just be jealous. And get a copy of the title documents to check for any restrictive covenants - you should be doing that anyway, or at least your solicitor should and reporting back to you if there are any restrictions on the use of the land.
 

Tammytoo

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Unless you are running it as a business there are no Health and Safety issues. I think you have a basic Duty of Care in that you ensure that the fencing is safe and the stables are unlikely to collapse on a horse, I rented a couple of srables & grazing from a friend and she was told that as long as she could prove that she didn't make a profit she wouldn't have to pay income tax on unearned income. She kept invoices for every nail, screw, gate, fertiliser, weedkiller, paint, fencing etc but no-one ever checked.

I would be loath to contact the local authority for guidance as they generally do their best to get money from you!
 

FRESHMAN

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Sorry but the truth is simple. Anyone who takes money (or favours instead of money) is classed as a business & rightly so. Legally you are then responsible for Public Liability Insurance. (minimum) Possibly Duty Care & Control Insurance depending if you do things like turn out or bring in. National Non Domestic Rates. & of course Planning Permission to run a commercial site. If these rules did not exsist how would a "proper legit" yard be able to compete with your prices?
 

Shay

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Freshman is right in that you would be classed as a buisness and have to pay buisness rates. You would also need to pay for things like rubbish disposal which are included in domestic rates. You would have to be sure there is planning permisison for a buisness run from that site and that any local environmental laws regading things like the siting and disposal of the muck heap are complied with.

I don't think you legally have to take out insurance - but you would be daft not to. One incident and you could loose your home and everything else otherwise.

Even if you just did it as an "under the table" thing between freinds you are still legally liable as the land owner for the welafre of the horses in your care.

Oh... and tax. You'd need to self assess and declare the income - even if it is immediately off set with expenditure and no tax is actually due. if you don't already do this it can be a bit time consuming!
 

lamlyn2012

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I rented a couple of srables & grazing from a friend and she was told that as long as she could prove that she didn't make a profit she wouldn't have to pay income tax on unearned income. She kept invoices for every nail, screw, gate, fertiliser, weedkiller, paint, fencing etc but no-one ever checked.

How can you rent out two stables and not make a profit? Surely the maintenance could never be that expensive, unless the stables were let for next to nothing.
If you are letting land you should inform H M Revenue and Customs. If you don't (failure to comply)they will eventually catch up with you and you will then have to pay Taxes owed to the Government plus interest and penalties.

There will also be potential Capital Gains Tax to pay also when the property is eventually sold.

When we purchased our land the Borough Council stipulated that there should be no business use.
 
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lachlanandmarcus

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How can you rent out two stables and not make a profit? Surely the maintenance could never be that expensive, unless the stables were let for next to nothing.
If you are letting land you should inform H M Revenue and Customs. If you don't (failure to comply)they will eventually catch up with you and you will then have to pay Taxes owed to the Government plus interest and penalties.

There will also be potential Capital Gains Tax to pay also when the property is eventually sold.

When we purchased our land the Borough Council stipulated that there should be no business use.

Maintenance, insurance, business rates, waste removal, accounts....very easy to make a loss if doing it above board!
 

lamlyn2012

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Maintenance, insurance, business rates, waste removal, accounts....very easy to make a loss if doing it above board!

Having owned land for 30 years I really do doubt it. And mine is exceptionally well maintained. But even if you make a loss you need to Self assess to MH Revenue and Customs. It is very unlikely a loss will be made every year.
Was the lady paying business rates and insurance? Was she paying an accountant to do the accounts? Not that difficult to do your own for something like this.
 
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